


Wrong Time To Be Thinking Of You

by mydeira



Series: Something Maybe 'Verse [13]
Category: Torchwood
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-07-09
Updated: 2011-07-09
Packaged: 2017-10-21 05:02:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/221221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mydeira/pseuds/mydeira
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Owen’s fooling no one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wrong Time To Be Thinking Of You

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers: through “Out of Time”
> 
> Disclaimer: Sadly, I am neither RTD nor the BBC. This is purely for the exorcism of the big bad bunny that landed on my head.
> 
> A/N: Follows Patience Worn Thin and takes place during the episode “Out of Time.” This is the thirteenth installment in the Something Maybe ‘Verse. Most of what we saw in the episode transpires pretty much the same way in my little ‘verse. The title is taken from the Damien Rice song “9 Crimes” which, in my opinion, is one of the quintessential Gwen/Owen songs.

“So, who is she?”

Diane’s question snapped Owen out of the post-coital daze he’d been enjoying. Reluctantly, he rolled over to face her, trying to figure out what she was getting at. “She who?”

Diane smiled indulgently. “The woman you’re thinking about when you’re with me,” she clarified, stretching cat-like beside him.

He laughed her remark off. “What man would be that daft?”

One of those shapely eyebrows arched up.

Bollocks. He hadn’t thought he was that transparent. Was it his fault that Gwen bloody Cooper wouldn’t leave him alone? “It’s nothing,” he sighed, thoroughly disgusted with himself. He should have been well over her by now.

“No, it’s not nothing. But that’s all right.” She didn’t sound even remotely put out by the fact. Her hand ran soothingly along his shoulder. “My last lover was married, remember? And there were a few before him that, well, a girl can tell.”

“I’m sorry.” Owen felt like a right shit.

Diane rolled her eyes. “Don’t be. I’ve been having a fantastic time. And I know you have as well.”

How could she be so casual about it? Like this was just how things were. “You deserve better,” he said, grabbing her hand and linking it with his.

“Maybe.” She shrugged. “But it’s how I like things. So long as there’s another girl in the picture, there’s no worries about a bloke getting attached. Everyone has a good time, and I still have my freedom.”

“That’s important to you, isn’t it?”

Her dark eyes looked momentarily wistful, but she smiled quickly. “It’s all I’ve got.” She was quiet for a moment before she added, “I think that’s why I took to flying so much. Being stuck on the ground, in one place, with one person… I can’t do that. I like change and need adventure.”

“Still gets lonely,” he said knowingly. “Freedom’s great and all, but it can give you some cold nights.”

“There’s a trade off to everything, Owen.” The sober mood was gone a moment later as she pushed him onto his back, moving on top of him. “Enough about me. Tell me about her.”

“You’re completely insane, you do know that?”

“I couldn’t live like I do if I wasn’t.” She kissed him lightly. “Now tell me about the girl who has your heart.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said, but didn’t meet Diane’s eyes. For someone from such a repressed decade, she was extremely direct.

She laughed. “Some things never change.” When he didn’t respond, she drummed her fingers on his chest. “What does she do? I can’t see you falling for an ordinary shop girl or secretary.”

“Not going to leave off are you?”

“No.”

This had to be one of the weirdest experiences of his life. To make it even stranger, he found he actually did want to talk. Maybe if he got it all out of his head, he could sort it and move on.

“You’ve met her, actually. She works at Torchwood.”

Her eyes went wide. “Oh, God, that makes so much sense now! It’s Gwen.” She pushed herself up to peer down at him. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Now how in the bloody hell do you figure that? It could very well be Tosh.”

“Honey, Toshiko wasn’t the one giving me looks fit to kill during the briefing today,” Diane said with amusement.

That bit of news shouldn’t make him feel as good as it did.

She chuckled. “You’d have to be blind or a man not to notice.”

“Ouch.”

“Well, it’s true.” She was completely unapologetic. “Believe me, I’ve been on the receiving end of plenty of those looks to know what I’m seeing.” It seemed to be a point of pride for her. “You two having a falling out or something?”

“Pretty much, yeah.” Owen reached up to toy with a strand of her hair. “Gwen’s made for adventure, just like you are. Christ, the way she lights up when she’s working on something, it’s—nevermind.” No reason to be going down that path right now. “But see, before she joined up with us, she’d gone and gotten mostly settled down with a good bloke and a stable, steady life. Trouble is, that way of life and Torchwood don’t go together. And she knows it. Or I thought she did. Was counting on it.”

“She chose the boyfriend over you, then.” It wasn’t a question.

He shrugged. “She didn’t choose at all. She’s still doing the double duty thing with work and home. The only difference is that I’m back to being no one.”

“You’re hardly no one, Owen,” Diane said soothingly. “And Gwen’s well aware of that fact, especially now that you’ve got someone else to focus on.”

“It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were just supposed to be…”

“Fuckbuddies?”

He smiled in spite of himself. “For all your protests, you like that word entirely too much.”

“I do like it. I just don’t like putting sex in such casual terms,” she stated. “Even when it’s one time, the connection you make…it means something. And if you think otherwise, you’re just fooling yourself.”

“Then I’ve been fooling myself for most of my life,” he said harsher than he meant to.

It didn’t faze her. “We all lie to ourselves about what scares us most. It’s how we survive.”

“I am scared,” he admitted. “It wasn’t supposed to be like this. I’m not like this.” He was embarrassed to realize his voice was shaking. The rest of him didn’t feel all that steady, either. Easing Diane off of him, he sat up. “I don’t get attached. I have sex and get on with my life.”

“Gwen strikes me as a smart girl. I think she realizes her mistake.”

Owen shrugged off her consoling hand, glaring at the wall to find some sense of focus. “If death didn’t wake her up, I seriously doubt anything else will.”

“You’re asking her to go from one relationship straight into another. You can’t do that, Owen.”

“I’m not asking her to do that.”

“No? You want her to give up the bloke she’s with to be with you. What do you call it?”

Ever muscle in his body was tight, tense. “It’s none of your damn business, is what I call it,” he growled.

“Easy.”

He ignored her. “I want to stop feeling like this. Stop feeling angry every time I think about Rhys touching her or making her laugh or, fuck, spending any time with her at all.”

“Have you told her any of this?” Her question was spoken softly though it was far from timid.

“Of course not!” He glared back over his shoulder at Diane. “I’m not a complete idiot.”

The snort he earned in response was not what he’d been expecting. “In spite of the menagerie of beauty products in your bathroom, you are every bit a man.”

“Glad you find that so amusing,” he spat, jumping out of the bed, needing space, movement.

“It is amusing. And you’d think so, too, if you weren’t so close to things.” Owen heard the rustle of sheets being thrown back. A moment later, Diane was standing in front of him, completely unconcerned with her nudity. “I know we haven’t known each other that long, but I think I’ve got a pretty good sense of you, Owen. You like things direct and to the point, pretty much speak your mind. Am I right?”

He nodded.

“Then why aren’t you being upfront with Gwen?” She waited for a response, but he didn’t have anything to say. “If you’re trying to save yourself some hurt, honey, it’s pretty late in the game for that.” Her hands came to rest on either side of his face, thumbs gently caressing. “The girl’s in a difficult spot right now. And I don’t care how daring she is, she’s scared and probably looking for any reason to prolong making the big decision as long as possible. You being cagy is just adding to that.”

“Talking about me being direct. You don’t bullshit much either, do you?” He grimaced. Covering her hands with his, he carefully drew them away from his face but didn’t let go.

“Life’s too short, isn’t it?” She tugged him close, her curves welcoming him. God, she felt good.

Wrapping his arms around her, he enjoyed the contact and her warmth. “You’re an incredible woman, Diane.”

“So I’ve been told.” The smile was apparent in her words. She let him hold her for awhile before placing a kiss on his shoulder and pulling away. “Now that I helped you, it’s time you returned the favor.” She grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the living room.

“With what?” he asked, mystified.

“I need you to use that computer of yours to check the conditions of the Rift for me.”

“Now I’ll add a ‘why?’ to that.”

She looked at him like he was dense. “I’m going up, see if I can get back.”

He stopped dead in the middle of the flat, holding her in place with him. “You can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“There’s no telling what will happen. You might not even make it through at all.”

She didn’t even give it a moment’s consideration. “So?”

“So? That’s all you can say?” He was on the verge of shouting.

“There’s no guarantees with anything, Owen. Every time I take off, I know it’s possible I might not come down alive,” she stated it with the nonchalance of an accepted fact. “It’s part of the reason for doing it in the first place. Pressing your luck. Testing the limits.”

“This is different. The Rift, it’s—”

“I don’t belong here,” she cut him off. “This isn’t my time or my place. Hell, I’m not sure that where I came from was my time or place either.”

“You can’t.”

“Yes, I can. And I will. Whether you help me or not.” This wasn’t an argument. Or even a discussion. She knew what she wanted, what she was going to do. She just seemed to be doing him the courtesy of telling him first. “So, what’s it going to be, Owen? Should I go into this blind, or do you want to give me the best chance possible?”

He wanted to stop her, keep her here. But why? For her own good? Or because she helped him forget?

Resigned, he sighed and released her. He made his way over to his laptop and switched it on. Sitting on the couch, he patted the spot next to him. “Well, come on.”

Her smile was one of the most beautiful things he’d seen in recent memory, and something told him he wasn’t going to soon forget it.

“Thank you,” he said as she sat beside him.

“For what? Telling you what you already knew?” She smirked.

“Something like that, yeah.”

Diane peered over his shoulder at the screen and said softly, “Gwen Cooper’s a lucky woman. Hopefully she’ll realize that before it’s too late.”

Owen couldn’t be certain, but it almost sounded like she was envious.


End file.
